Since my recent post about demi Neil erasure has gotten much more traction than I thought it would, here's a small post about how it feels and felt to realize I was demi because of Neil and then subsequently see tons of people disregard it.
(this isn't a call out or discourse post, just some personal stuff I'm airing out to hopefully help this stop happening)
It was kind of a big moment for me when I realized that like, Neil's thoughts on romance/relationships throughout the books wasn't just someone finally getting it right but someone writing from an ace spec perspective.
So seeing people (and literal friends of mine) say, "Well he is basically gay because he's dating Andrew," or any similar phrase hurts. On top of all the internalized shit I still have to work through seeing that sets me back so far. There is literally no justification for it. He is demi, it is not just a widely accepted headcanon. It's a confirmed canon fact, and he and very importantly every demi and ace spec person in this fandom deserve to have it treated as such. It erases such an important part of his character and the plot of the books. It erases his emotional bond with Andrew.
We rarely get ace spec rep in novels, and to finally have a demi character and see it taken away by people in this fandom because it's 'just easier to call him gay' really fucking sucks.
TL;DR: Neil is demi, he isn't 'basically gay'. It isn't 'easier' to call him gay either. If you want to get into semantics it's one extra letter to type. Calling him anything but demi hurts demi fans more than you may realize, and I hope this helped at least one person understand that.
reblog this with what comes up in your tags when you type gay
FBI: *gives strict instructions*
Neil: *removes one earbud* what
i love when people say that andrew gets good grades because of his eidetic memory because it insinuates be a) goes to class, b) actually listens instead of sleeping, and c) doesn’t purposely answer questions wrong so that he gets exactly a passing grade
neil has had countless dramatic main characters outside of the series - namely while staring out of a window as it’s pouring rain - and that’s just a fact
andrew cuts cake pieces from the middle, and it’s not even because he doesn’t like the edges - it’s just for everyone else’s reactions
Andrew: Picking locks is my specialty.
Andrew: *throws brick through window*
Andrew: Ok, lets go.
“are we? friends?” crushes my heart EVERY TIME, like - neil had never had a friend in his life. there’s no way he got close to anyone in little leagues or on the run. the person he was closest to regularly beat him - and he saw no problem w that.
neil had no idea what constituted a friend, but then there was nicky, with his smiles and friendliness and exuberance, there were people that he actually cared about and that cared about him, and he didn’t know what to call it, didn’t know how to deal with it, didn’t know it was even possible for him to have friends, like normal people do, like people without butchers for fathers do.
the little stray finally found a home, and he would tear the world apart for his makeshift family of friends.
honestly, what a power-move for neil to be an absolute asshole to the feds and get his way because of it. like damn, yes, let them know that you know how vital you are to their case. speak a different language so that they can’t understand you. call them out on their lies. insult them. go off my guy, that’s what we like to see
(and also shoutout to the rest of the foxes for refusing to tell the feds anything because they said they couldn’t see neil. this is the friendship neil deserves. this is the family that he didn’t dare to dream for. iconic)
aftg but instead of carrying the money in the binder, neil uses a piggybank
hEY remember how the foxes got a tv for the bus because they asked and wymack’s a sucker when it comes to his kids they won finals ?? can you imagine the CHAOS ??? these dumbasses can’t agree on a single thing, there’s no way choosing which movie to watch on their trips to games will cause anything other than absolute mayhem
aftg blog ❅ she/her ❅ headcanons, textposts, and shitposts ❅ feel free to send me prompts or just reach out!
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